Unabridged Bookshelf: Cutlass Blog Tour: Review and Giveaway

Welcome to Unabridged Bookshelf's stop on the Cutlass Blog Tour! Today I have a review of Cutlass, and there is a tourwide giveaway to enter! Make sure to check out everything going on during this tour by clicking the banner above.

About the Book

Title: Cutlass

Author: Ashley Nixon

Series: Cutlass #1

Publication Date: April 23, 2014

Genres: Young Adult, Fantasy

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Notorious pirate Barren Reed has one thing on his mind: Revenge against the man who killed his father. So kidnapping his enemy’s fiancé seems a perfect plan…until he actually does it.

Larkin Lee is more than a pretty face and fiancé to a powerful man. Her fierce personality is enough to make any pirate want to push her overboard.

But when the King of the Orient comes to Barren with a task—to find the Bloodstone, a powerful gem thought only to exist in legend, Barren sees another opportunity to destroy his enemy. Together, Barren, Larkin and a crew of pirates set off to find the stone, only to discover it caused the death of Barren’s own mother and Larkin’s, too. As his strongest allies turn into his greatest enemies, and the life of the girl he kidnapped becomes more important than he ever dreamed, Barren’s quest for revenge becomes a fight to save the Orient.

About the Author

Ashley was born and raised in Oklahoma, where the wind really does sweep down the plains, and
horses and carriages aren’t used as much as she’d like. When she’s not writing, she’s hard at work on her Master’s degree in Library Science and Information Technology, working out, or pretending she’s Sherlock Holmes. Her obsession with writing began after reading the Lord of the Rings in the eighth grade. Since then, she’s loved everything Fantasy–resulting in an unhealthy obsession with the ‘geek’ tab on Pinterest, where all things awesome go.

My Review of Cutlass

Pirates, secrets, and magic make this fantasy novel a dark, stormy adventure that fantasy fans will truly enjoy. The banter, the sword fighting, and the epic quest to save the world had me enjoying every second of Cutlass. The pace of the story is a slow and steady that is intermixed with pulse pounding battles. Barren’s only goal of killing his father’s murderer and his only brother is waylaid when Barren’s plan to draw out William backfires on him.

Kidnapping Lady Larkin really set the whole story in motion, and I have to say she has to be my favorite out of all the characters. She maybe a noblewoman, but she is also headstrong and she can hold her own in a fight. She also does not let anyone, except maybe her father control her in any way. This personality is what made me love her, she is not just going to sit back, and let the men decided what she should or should not do, especially the “murderous pirate” Barren Reed.

I love how as a reader, I thought I knew all the secrets until a new one popped up right in my face taking me by surprise. These little surprises kept me on my toes, and made me love Cutlass even more. Also, each of the settings in the story are breathtaking, and the way Ashley Nixon describes them had me longing for them to be real.

This fantasy novel has all the elements for a must read fantasy novel. Epic Quest Check, Master Villains Check, Secrets slowly being revealed that change the story Check. I love that this is only the first novel in the Cutlass trilogy. I am looking forward to reading more by Ashley Nixon and more of Barren and Larkin’s story and adventures.

**Unabridged Bookshelf received this book, in exchange for an honest review**